The 76th Golden Globes Awards aired this past week with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel picking up two nominations, and another win for actress Rachel Brosnahan in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a TV series – Musical or Comedy. Hudson Woods residents and fans of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel may recognize some of the locales that set the scene for the show’s second season. Filmed in the southern reaches of the Catskills, the 1950’s set comedy does an amazing job recreating the so-called Borscht Belt as the cast is portrayed escaping the city heat in Manhattan and cooling off at a summer resort in the Catskills Mountains.
Historically, the Catskills provided a summer escape for working and middle class Jewish New Yorkers from the sweltering streets of New York City during an era without air conditioners. With the massive influx of tourists and families traveling to the mountains, came a need to feed and entertain them, and simultaneously a new comedy circuit was born. Many comedy legends honed their skills working and entertaining the Borscht Belt resorts during the 40’s through the 60’s. Some of the comedy legends you could’ve seen perform back then included, Woody Allen, Rodney Dangerfield, Jerry Seinfeld, Billy Crystal and Joan Rivers.
While the past era of resorts and entertainers is no longer what it was in the 1950’s, the Hudson Valley is still a big part of the film and TV industry. In 2017 alone the TV show Big Dogs and indie movies Nancy, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, and Diane were all filmed throughout the region. Not to mention John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place which was filmed in Beacon and in New Paltz and grossed more than $270 million world wide.
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